THE NEW Stratford Hospital is finally set to welcome patients after flooding delayed its opening.
The £22million state-of-the-art hospital will carry out a phased opening, starting with its eye unit on Monday (July 24).
The rest of the Arden Street site, which includes the Rigby cancer unit and new Café Lomas, will then follow on Monday August 7.
Opening of the new hospital was delayed by a month after a burst water pipe flooded part the chemotherapy treatment area and ophthalmology outpatients area.
Contractors needed to dry out the site before work could be completed and a deep clean carried out.
A spokeswoman from South Warwickshire Foundation Trust – which runs Stratford, Warwick, Leamington and Shipston hospitals – said: “Contractors responded quickly to assess the area, taking immediate action to rectify the problem and addressing the impact the leak had on the site.
“The remedial work required added an additional few weeks on to the total two and half year build and therefore it will be fully open in August.”
The new hospital – which is based on the same site as the existing hospital – will house a state-of-the-art eye and cancer unit along with a well-being centre.
Residents have backed the hospital since the plans were first announced, and also supported the successful million pound fund-raising appeal to pay for comforts including iPads and special chemotherapy chairs.
Tea parties, balls, charity runs, film nights and even firewalks were just some of the events held to raise money for the fund – which reached its target earlier this year.
Bosses say the new hospital will ‘transform’ the future of healthcare in the district.
It follows the revelation that nearly 30 per cent fewer patients in Stratford choose to have chemotherapy compared to nearby Warwick Hospital. This is due to the travel time it takes Stratford residents to reach Warwick’s Aylesford Unit.
But it is hoped more will opt to use the new cancer unit, which is situated on the building’s top floor. It will consist of 12 treatment couches, two side rooms and even a counselling room. There will also be an emergency room where cancer patients who feel unwell can go.
And to offer support to those affected by cancer there will be a part of the new hospital’s airy atrium dedicated to Macmillan, along with a complementary treatment room.
